Blue Devils Hand GU First Loss

Hoya File Photo Sheehan Stanwick and the Hoyas suffered their first loss of the season against Duke this weekend. The sky was dark and threatening by the end of the game, but the real bleakness was on the faces of the Georgetown women’s lacrosse team, which lost its first game of the season against the Duke Blue Devils.

Georgetown, which entered the game ranked No. 2, ran out of steam in the closing minutes of the 8-7 loss to No. 5 ranked Duke, the Hoyas’ first home loss since falling to Maryland on April 14, 1999. Saturday’s game marked the fourth consecutive time Duke has defeated Georgetown. Lauren Gallagher netted a trio of goals for the Blue Devils, the last of which gave Duke (4-1) the lead for good with less than nine minutes remaining. The Georgetown attack failed to respond, struggling to get off any shots in the closing minutes.

The eight goals is the most Georgetown (5-1, 1-0 Big East) has allowed in a game this season, while the seven goals are the fewest the Hoyas have scored in a game, and it added up to a tough-to-swallow loss. The Blue Devil defense focused on shutting down All-American attackers Sheehan Stanwick and Erin Elbe, doing a solid job in holding the duo to a pair of goals, although they did combine for three assists.

Things started off well for the Hoyas, who jumped out to a 2-1 lead 10 minutes into the game on goals from seniors Sarah Oglesby and Sheehan Stanwick. Duke quickly evened the score though, and the two teams traded goals to enter the half knotted at two.

As Georgetown’s attack was stalling out, Duke got off to a strong start to the second half, scoring a pair of unanswered goals to take a 5-3 lead with 20 minutes remaining in the game. The Hoyas were far from conceding defeat, however, and a pair of goals from Elbe and sophomore attack Wick Stanwick just a minute apart tied the game back up with under 13 minutes to play.

Duke’s relentless attack was not done, and after exchanging goals with Georgetown, the Blue Devils netted back-to-back goals to take an 8-6 lead. Freshman middie Melissa Ellers scored with 27 seconds left in the game to bring the Hoyas within one, but Georgetown’s only shot in the final 10 minutes of the game was too little, too late. Duke gained possession on the final face-off and controlled the ball in the closing seconds as time ran out.

Senior Bowen Holden returned to the net for the Hoyas after being sidelined against Syracuse due to a torn ligament in her knee that continues to limit her ability to run. Holden came up with 10 saves while allowing the eight goals, while Kristen Foster, her Duke counterpart, came up with 14 saves.

At the offensive end, it was Georgetown’s freshmen that came up big with the Duke defense focusing on the Hoyas’ featured scorers. Middie Anouk Peters notched a pair of goals for the Hoyas, while Ellers added a tally in the closing minute.

Georgetown looks to get back in the win column this week as the Hoyas return to Big East play for a pair of road games against unranked teams. First up is Boston College on Wednesday followed by Rutgers on Saturday.